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RICHMOND : 

RITCHIE    ft   DUNNAVANT,   PRIMERS 
1863, 


so*.^  V 


%  "*~»\       **' 


George  Washington  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 

DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 

FAMILY  OF 

COLONEL  FLOWERS 


THE    TIMES! 


The  condition  of  our  country  and  the  progress  of  our  time  bring; 
home  to  every  reflecting  mind  consequences  that  outweigh  the  ex- 
isting estimates  of  civilized  life.  History  affords  no  parallel  equal 
to  the  present  condition  of  this  on  land  and  countiy.  Sages  and 
savans  for  ages  to  come,  may  toil  in  the  fruitless  endeavor  to  solve 
the  questions  which  that  condition  involves.  A  people,  inhabiting 
in  peace  a  country  with  prosperity  unequaled  and  influence  un- 
bounded, wrecked  in  desolation  from  inability  to  meet  that  diver- 
pity  of  opinion  and  interest  which  is  ever  the  universal  behest  of 
Heaven  to  make  the  efforts  of  man  effectual  to  secure  the  ends  of 
life. 

We  find  ourselves  to-day  environed  by  consequences  fatal  to 
the  United  States  as  a  nation,  and  alike  portending  evil  to  the 
whole  country,  with  the  greatest  of  questions  unsettled — the  mo- 
mentous question  of  peace  or  war. 

Contention  and  strife  rob  nations;  desolate  lands  once  fair  and 
fruitful ;  and  we  are  left  to  recoil  from  the  frightful  ravages  made 
by  man  upon  his  fellow.  Did  it  stop  here,  we  might  theorize  upon 
the  common  casualties  of  life.  But  nature,  in  our  civic  immatu- 
rity, produces  an  abortion,  contrary  to  the  human  instincts,  since 
the  first  innate  principle  of  being  is  self.  The  brute  protects  its 
own,  but  man,  a  patrimony  of  Heaven,  robs  nature  and  gives  death 
to  life.  Brother  is  arrayed  against  brother,  and  father  against 
son,  and  this  for  whatf  To  establish  right  ?  Then  the  great  in- 
nate principle  of  all  life  is  wrong,  for  self-protection  is  the  first  law 
of  being.     A  monstrous  wrong  is  war  : 

First — Because  all  men  are  opposed  to  being  themselves  injured. 

Secondly — It  leads  to  the  injury  nf  some  other  one  equally  enti- 
tled to  the  benefits  of  life  and  liberty. 

If  need  be  we  would  say,  we  are  commanded  when  smitten  on 
one  side,  to  turn  the  oilier ;  but  we  are  no  apologists  for  such  a 


doctrine,  seeing  it  would  annihilate  the  very  instincts  of  nature, 
as  manifested  in  all  the  animal  creations,  from  the  greatest  to  the 
least.  And  what  is  true  of  an  individual,  is  equally  so  of  a  na- 
tion ;  for  individuals  are  the  stars  that  form  the  handiwork  of  its 
greatness,  as  drops  make  the  ocean,  and  sands  the  shore.  Rea- 
son, judgment,  justice  and  virtue — peace,  prosperity,  human  hope 
and  happiness — all  make  the  common  weal  of  both  men  and 
country. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  there  is  never  contact,  but  passion,  preju- 
dice, suspicion,  fancied  injury,  revenge  and  jealousy — all  form  the 
elements  of  destruction,  while  on  them  is  based,  at  least,  the  appa- 
rent weal  or  woe  of  mankind  ?  Our  once  common  nation  is  now 
.convulsed  to  its  very  centre.  From  within  and  without  comes  the 
fearful  cry  of  mighty  wrong.  Justice  has  been  fledged  of  her 
birth;  duty  forgotten;  humanity  dead,  and  the  creature  of  passion 
(war!)  roams  with  the  velocity  of  lightning  over  every  recognized 
right  of  freemen !  Loss,  bordering  on  perdition,  unless  the  supre- 
macy of  truth  can  wave  her  extended  arm  around  the  sorrowing 
hearthstones,  and  make  glad  the  home  of  the  brave  in  the  freedom 
of  its  right. 

There  is  a  time  in  the  history  of  nations  as  well  as  in  the  ex- 
periences of  men,  when  we  are  called  upon  to  pause  and  reflect. 
With  duty  upon  the  one  hand  and  infinite  destiny  on  the  other, 
we  are  ever  made  triplicate  to  the  great  creation  around  us.  We 
cannot  shun  the  responsibility  to  God,  self  and  country,  if  we 
would,  even  though  slaughtered  millions  lay  at  our  beck,  for  at: 
infinite  destiny  marks  upon  our  hand  the  future  results  of  its  time. 

All  history,  of  which  man  has  knowledge,  all  time,  all  nations 
and  every  manner  of  people,  may  summon  together  their  sub- 
stance of  life,  and  the  war  cry  is  ever  heard.  Desolation  and 
blood  have  been  the  passports  to  eternity.  And  why  is  this  ?  Is 
it  a  part  of  nature  ?  Is  it  that  creature  and  creator  are  at  war? 
Is  it  that  God  is  avenged  on  the  work  of  his  own  hands  ?  Or  is 
it  not  rather  the  failure  to  appreciate  and  apply  the  consequences 
resulting  from  what  every  heart's  sigh  deifies  as  wrong?  :  To  take 
that,  the  life  of  another,  to  say  nothing  of  the  commands  every 
christian  people  profess  to  reverence  as  the  sum  of  divine  autho- 
rity, and  which  say  "  thou  shalt  not  kill ;  thou  shalt  not  steal" — 


it  is  a  parody  upon  human  reason  and  recognized  right ;  a  falsity 
in  nature,  a  truism  in  God.  We  must  master  the  one,  or  suc- 
cumb to  the  other. 

Thinking  and  reflecting  miuds  would  say,  that  justice  should 
form  an  equipoise  between  differences  of  whatever  nature.  Man 
should  not  abolish  reason,  and  substitute  passion.  Life  should  not 
become  death  to  arbitrate  the  rights  of  the  surviving ;  for  when 
dead,  the  exercise  of  this  principle  is  supplanted  in  God.  But 
human  nature  is  averse  to  war.  Human  hope  is  opposed.  All 
experience  answers  in  the  dreadful  notes  of  its  calamitous  bear- 
ing upon  the  great  good  of  all  people.  Still  its  ill  effects  deso- 
late the  earth,  and  make  man  a  murderer  and  an  outcast  ?  Do 
you  ask  why  ?     We  readily  answer : 

Because  your  nation  is  false :  because  the  highest  incentives 
known  to  the  human  heart  are  foisted  into  the  hypocritical  arena 
of  conscience :  because  man  is  dead  and  insensible  to  the  living 
light  of  his  own  soul:  because'  cimiHied  and  chruticmized  people 
call  upon  their  God  to  help  them  murder,  while  daily  repealing 
the  commands,  '-thou  shalt  not  kill;  thou  shalt  not  steal,"  and 
while  singing  paeans  to  the  praise  of  that  inspiration  which  says, 
w-  when  smitten  on  one  cheek,  turn  the  other."  And  all  this  for 
the  glory  of  Heaven,  and  the  humanizing  influence  of  this  enlight- 
ened and  christian  people,  while  days  are  appointed  for  thanks- 
giving and  prayer  to  ascend  to  Heaven  in  adoration  to  the  same 
great  dispenser  of  human  events  over  your  slaughtered  brothers ! 
Creature  and  Creator  are  thus  brought  in  contact ! 

Again,  it  hath  been  said.  "  a  house  divided  against  itself,  cannot 
stand;''  but  christianized  humanity  calls  upon  its  God  to  minister 
an  unsparing  hand,  and  desolate  the  creature  of  his  own  making! 
Such  is  the  life  we  inherit  to-day. 

But  while  stating  these  plainest  of  facts,  it  is  not  our  object  to 
grieve  over  the  past.  Let  us  be  benefited  in  the  future.  Must 
the  sad  realities  of  war  eter  visit  us  1  Must  murderous  death  and 
relentless  desolation  ever  be  our  portion  ?  Yes — so  long  as  we 
are  insincere  and  false  to  the  first  principles  of  life.  But  if  reason 
is  above  passion,  right  above  wrong,  we  have  a  basis  of  action 
upon  which  ail  differences  of  opinion  as  well  as  interest  may  iiud 
an  easy  solution.     It  is  strange  and  has  no  parallel,  when  men 


will  pause  and  reflect,  that  these  great  questions  of  national  good 
and  enduring  right  have  not  met  with  their  just  estimate.  Liberty 
is  more  than  oppression.  The  distinction  that  forms  the  inevita- 
ble consequences  of  desolation,  is  so  plain  that  none  need  mis- 
take it,  were  they  free  to  do  so.  It  is  the  misappliance,  the  dis- 
organized relation  of  that  evident  principle  that  regulates  the 
destiny  of  individuals  as  well  as  nations,  that  brings  upon  us  the 
fearful  consequences  of  dissolution,  both  civil  and  military.  The 
system  of  the  United  States  government  is  imperfect,  disjointed, 
and  the  consequence  is  as  saddening  as  the  defects  are  palpable 
and  plain.  Why  not  then  remedy  the  evil  by  a  final  dismissal  of 
the  ends  and  acts  that  destroy  it  ?  But  it  is  equally  applicable  to 
all  conditions  o.f  human  kind,  be  they  high  or  low,  great  or  small. 
Climate  and  country  enjoy  the  universal  behests  of  time  and  con- 
dition, all  subservient  to  natural  law,  so  that  man  as  man,  may 
be  made  partaker  of  a  common  bounty  as  extended  as  life  and  as 
universal  as  £rod,  and  still  we  seem  inadequate  to  their  benign 
administration. 

I  need  not  traverse  back  o'er  the  past,  nor  measure  the  diver- 
sified conditions  of  human  life.  Neither  is  it  necessary  to  follow 
the  rise  of  empires  or  the  decay  of  nations.  All  are  alike,  and  no 
one  forms  an  exception  to  the  inexorable  law  of  desolation.  Yet, 
humanity  has  but  one  God,  and  justice  oae  trust — the  dispenser 
of  universal  good  to  the  race.  Clothed  with  the  inalienable  rights 
of  conscience,  makes  us  men  to  subserve  the  ends  of  life,  and  pre- 
pares all  for  its  natural  diversity.  We  cannot  ignore  these  stub- 
born facts;  and  when  duly  considered,  they  must  lead  to  benefi- 
cial results. 

I  would  propose  there  should  be  no  more  war.  Stranger  than 
fiction,  says  my  friend,  such  a  proposition.  In  the  diversified  con- 
dition of  humanity,  war  is  an  inexorable  necessity.  As  men  are 
now  constituted,  they  must  be  governed  with  might.  No  rule  could 
adapt  the  conditions  of  man  to  the  estimate  of  peace.  Its  standard 
would  be  too  high  to  render  full  and  adequate  justice  to  all  men. 
We  will  see.  If  there  is  a  universal  law  of  life,  there  is  a  uni- 
versal conformity  to  the  conditions  of  that  life.  To  say  there  is 
not,  is  to  say  it  does  not  exist.  What  those  conditions  are,  is  the 
problem  of  humanity,  and  the  life  throes  of  nature  have  paid  the 


■debt  thrice  over,  and  still  they  will  not  be  heard.  Forensic  elo- 
quence in  the  halls  of  your  nation,  has  been  as  clods  upon  the 
conscience  of  our  people,  and  it  has  drenched  humanity  with  the 
subterfuges  of  life. 

My  hope  of  human  happiness  and  eternal  good  rises  not  with 
the  dust  of  battle  and  the  diu  of  arms.  But  my  thoughts  and 
feelings  rise  to  a  just  estimate  of  the  condition  of  all  men,  whether 
noble  or  ignoble,  so  called.  We  must  ever  rise  above  the  condi- 
tion of  conflict,  to  find  a  recipe  for  its  benefit.  Fancied  interest, 
party  or  prejudice,  must  be  laid  aside.  A  more  extended  view  of 
life  and  its -benefits  demand  our  recognition,  before  we  can  be 
■equal  to  their  ultimate  condition. 

There  is  no  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  frightful  slaughter  of 
our  people.  There  is  but  one  song  of  lamentation  and  sorrow 
rhat  sweeps  o'er  this  once  happy  but  unfortunate  country.  The 
results  of  war,  and  the  admitted  casualties  incident  to  it  in  the 
most  favorable  aspect  leave  but  one  breath,  and  that  of  sorrow 
and  dismay.  Such  being  the  case,  may  we  not  hope  for  a  brighter 
day  1  May  we  not  look  for  the  morn  of  life,  whose  kindred  emo- 
tions shall  swell  the  heart  in  harmonious  strains  to  one  universal 
God,  whose  precept  and  practice  will  not  accord  its  hallelujahs  for 
brothers  slain  !  But  how  is  this  to  be  attained  ?  When  men  come 
to  recognize  that  right  is  above  might.  Because  I  have  the  physi- 
cal ability  to  do  you  bodily  harm,  it  does  not  follow  that  I  have 
the  right  to  do  it.  But  on  the  contrary,  having  the  ability,  is  the 
infinite  reason  why  it  should  not  be  done.  Learn  this  of  nature 
and  her  God,  and  do  not  pray  him  to  become  a  party  criminis  to 
the  hellish  deeds  you  would  hold  for  your  adversaries.  But  feel 
there  is  a  principle  above  the  right  and  the  wrong — for  even  the 
right  is  a  secondary  clause  in  the  apocalypse  of  nature — and  that 
is  yourself,  the  creature  ;  and  you  are  brought  in  contact  with  the 
cou'lition;  and  if  not  above  that  condition  of  antagonism,  you 
will  never  be  equal  to  it  for  good.  Consequently,  man  should  live 
a  life  of  precept  and  principle,  recognized  in  the  great  chart  of 
humanity,  to  escape  all  wrong  and  inspire  every  action  to  the  con- 
summation of  all  good.  To  do  this,  it  is  not  necessary  to  confine 
ourselves  to  that  paraphernalia  of  thought  limited  by  our  special 
views  of  propriety  or  people.     We  must  study  the  great  lesson  of 


8 

nature  or  humanity,  from  its"  unbounded  diversity.  A  universal 
principle  incapacitates  no  people  from  its  beneficial  results.  If 
we  cannot  humanize  and  fraternize  upon  a  mere  question  of  life 
and  death,  God  forbid  that  we  should  still  call  ourselves  christian- 
ized ;  for  until  this  is  done,  these  abortions  of  nature  cannot  be- 
come so  secondary  in  their  influence  as  to  enable  us  to  realize  this 
hope  for  the  good  of  man. 

I  might  well  propound,  Is  there  one  thing  on  earth,  one  hope 
of  Heaven,  that  will  warrant  us  in  the  belief  from  which  recog- 
nized humanity  will  not  dissent  ?  I  ask  the  question,  Is  it  wrong 
for  one  man  to  take  the  life  of  another,  to  redress  his  grievances  ? 
I  ask  it  in  principle,  I  ask  it  in  theory,  and  I  ask  it  in  fact.  Why 
all  civilized  countries  answer  that  question  most  emphatically  by 
rule  and  order,  to  set  aside  passion  and  frenzy  and  distribute  jus- 
tice, dignified  by  laws,  courts  and  governments.  If  it  is  wrong  in 
an  individual,  it  is  equally  so  in  a  nation.  And  if  we  judge  of 
the  enormity  by  the  effect — and  it  is  for  this  exigency  all  law  is 
required — it  is  greater,  aye,  more  than  greatness  itself. 

Look  at  the  desolate  hearthstones  in  this  once  happy  land. 
Made  so  by  any  part  or  action  of  theirs  ?  No !  Thousands  of 
exceptions  of  this  kind,  weigh  with  the  weight  of  eternity  upon 
the  administrative  policy  of  the  existing  government.  Its  enor- 
mity is  beyond  comprehension.  Why  ?  The  innocent  too  often 
suffer  while  the  guilty  repose  at  ease.  With  results  so  fatal  to 
the  peace  of  man,  the  individual  is  made  a  party  in  his  own  con- 
dition, undesired,  unsought.  Thus  the  nation  makes  her  difference, 
wielded  by  the  omnipotent  arm  of  power,  injustice  to  all.  The 
widow  and  the  orphan ;  the  maimed  and  the  wrecks  of  humanity 
become  her  inheritors  for  the  proud  task  she  displayed  in  her 
misdirection. 

Then  I  would  propose,  that*  we  have  war  no  more  r  and  peace 
universal  should  be  the  triumphal  car  in  which  all  diversities,  in 
sober  thought.,  might  ride  triumphant  throughout  the  land! 

If  it  becomes  necessary  to  have  a  judiciary  or  the  recognized 
forms  of  law  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  the  differences  among 
men,  is  it  not  equally  necessary  to  have  a  tribunal  equally  effec- 
tive in  purpose  among  nations  ?  An  answer  in  conformity  to  this 
is  well  established  in  what  is  called  international  law.    But  this 


9 

international  law  as  jet  is  but  a  sparrow  upon  the  hawk;  the 
great  bugbear  of  freedom,  human  liberty  and  constitutional  light. 
I  care  not  what  the  varied  forms  of  government  are,  there  is  a 
settled  principle  of  right  that  demands  a  recognition  universal. 
The  essential  element  of  all  government  is  life.  Then  it  should 
be  protected;  not  left  to  diplomatic  inter<  ourse  and  the  etiquette 
of  courts.  Such  mushrooms  grow  in  a  night,  and  fortunately  for 
human  interests,  fall  in  a  day.  How,  then,  shall  we  proceed  to 
effect  what  humanity  most  needs  ?  To  do  this,  we  have  to  go  be- 
yond courts,  and  even  country,  and  stand  upon  a  platform  of 
universal  right.  That  right  in  God  we  ever  have.  Not  to  subvert 
the  Creator's  wiil  and  wisdom  by  taking  that  we  cannot  give,  that 
we  may  inherit  ill  abroad  and  discontent  at  home,  but  to  live  a 
life  of  peace  and  good  will  to  men.  Who  is  there,  then,  that  will 
object  to  this  ?  None !  Let  us,  then,  come  to  the  confines  of  the 
grave,  and  bury  forever  the  war  cry  upon  our  brothers,  and  culti- 
vate those  great  principles  of  love  and  justice  to  our  fellow-men, 
by  doing  to  others  as  we  would  they  should  do  to  us ;  by  abolishing 
the  war  code  from  the  statutes  of  nations,  all  breathing  alike  a 
healthful  enthusiasm  of  life,  justice  and  truth. 

Trust  and  confidence  would  inspire  mutual  respect.  National 
greatness  would  be  goodness.  All  would  seek  to  emulate  those 
principles  they  now  call  upon  their  God  to  destroE.  I  summon 
all  prejudice,  passion  and  power  to  do  away  with  an  example  so 
worthy  as  the  one  which  I  propose  for  the  universal  benefit  of  all. 
Not  one  dismembering  the  fixed  conditions  v,  hich  have  been  the 
status  of  country  and  court,  leveling  all  the  prominent  obligations 
of  life  and  liberty  thereto,  but  establishing  these. 

I  charge  all  nations  with  an  absorption  of  the  true  eLc-ments  of 
their  nature.  It  is  sucking  the  life-flows  of  its  own  existence ;  de- 
moralizing and  deadening  its  influence,  and  bringing  to  decay  its 
own  greatness,  so  long  as  the  fundamental  law  of  life  is  un- 
heeded. It  is  a  plain  demonstration;  it  requires  no  thought, 
what  I  propose  for  the  subjugation  of  this  great  error,  war.  The 
infant  mind  can  comprehend  it.  It  is  a  part  of  ourselves  that 
respects  it.     What  is  it,  then  ? 

I  propose  that  every  nation  shall  disarm,  beating  their  imple- 
ments of  destruction  into  instruments  of  construction,  by  mutual 
2 


10 

consent.  And  why  ?  Because  their  use  subverts  the  true  prin- 
ciples of  life.  Because  their  use  and  maintenance  is  an  inver- 
sion, opposed  to  the  Creator  for  the  destruction  of  his  creatures. 
Because  every  impulse  of  humanity  is  opposed  to  war.  Because 
every  legalized  and  recognized  nation  on  earth  opposes  in  princi- 
ple and  practice  its  exercise,  by  law  and  order,  in  the  civilized 
walks  of  men.  Nations  should  not  practice  of  themselves  what 
they  condemn  in  the  individual  sources  of  their  existence. 

But  I  am  told  that  the  natural  relation  of  state  to  state  and 
country  tp  country,  requires  these  mutual  defences  for  their  own 
good ;  for  that  mutual  protection  of  interest  allies  their  very  ex- 
istence and  being  as  a  people.  As  a  counterpoise,  we  may  add 
that  every  nation  requires  and  must  maintain  this  inherent  prin- 
ciple or  self-existing  power,  in  order  to  subjugate  those  differences 
of  opinion  and  interest  that  might  naturally  accrue  as  the  out- 
growth of  a  great  and  mighty  people.  We  admit  this  might  be 
-so,  or  is  so.  All  countries  have  their  diversities,  their  peculiar 
interests  and  institutions,  that  should  be  fostered  with  paternal 
care.  We  will  not  encroach  upon  the  aggrandizement  of  a  na- 
tion or  the  well-being  of  any  people,  but  we  will  substitute  right 
for  might.     We  propose,  therefore, 

First — One  grand  council  of  all  the  recognized  nations  on  earth. 
Secondly— I  would  propose  that  each  nation  be  equally  represen- 
ted, independent  of  condition  or  country,  great  or  small.  Wh}r  ? 
Because  right  is  not  measured  by  might,  nor  by  wealth,  fortune, 
power,  extent  of  country  or  influence.  Were  it  a  local  or  tempo- 
ral interest,  it  should  be  measured,  or  represented  by  its  effect,  as 
fifty  men  would  have  a  greater  interest  than  one  man.  But  all 
men  have  an  interest  in  life  and  death,  and  the  question  we  are 
considering  is  war. 

That  council  should  be  the  sole  arbitrator  of  the  differences 
among  all  nations  and  all  peoples.  Their  decision  to  be  final, 
and  beyond  reclamation.  Any  nation  dissenting  from  its  decision 
to  be  considered  the  enemy  of  mankind,  and  at  war  with  the  com- 
bined world.  This  will,  in  effect  enthrone  reason  and  right  in  the 
place  of  passion  and  power.  It  would  lead  to  the  demolition  of 
the  nations'  God ;  that  is,  the  ability  of  each  to  do  the  other  the 
greatest  harm.     Human  language  is  insufficient  to  express  the 


11 

benefits  to  be  derived  from  such  a  course.  The  human  mind  can- 
not enumerate  the  sum  total  that  would  be  saved  by  the  existing 
powers  of  the  earth,  in  abolishing  all  the  means  and  artifices  of 
war.  The  sums  now  expended  would  feed,  clothe  and  educate 
eveiy  subject  of  their  respective  governments  Thousands,  nay, 
millions  of  men  taken  from  the  ordinary  channels  of  life,  would 
be  restored  to  their  country  and  their  God.  For  all  such  are 
alienated  from  the  Creator  by  the  unholy  art  and  artifices  of  war. 
Were  we  to  leave  out  the  horrible  consequences  of  war  in  all 
their  details.  And  present  it  only  as  a  financial  consideration,  there 
is  not  one  like  it  on  earth.  Talk  of  acquired  greatness  by  the 
success  of  arms.  It  is  a  lullaby  to  destruetion  and  a  fallacy.  For 
the  means  expended  would  honorably  acquire  and  make  tenfold 
greater  acquisitions  of  empire  and  state  than  the  combined  armies 
of  the  world.  For  such  successes  have  only  been  the  transient 
sunbeams  of  the  hour— they  passed  away.  All  history  accords  this 
to  have  been  the  fate  of  nations  by-gone.  Where  are  they? 
Mouldered  and  faded  away.  There  is,  then,  a  living  principle 
and  an  eternal  right,  that  should  actuate  every  bosom  and  freshen 
every  impulse  for  good.  This  principle  we  propose  for  the  pacifi- 
cation of  all  nations. 

Now,  what  objection  have  we  to  offer?  What  sacrifice  is  to  be 
made  ?  None  !  There  is  none !  It  is  a  plain  principle  of  right 
on  the  one  side  and  might  on  the  other. 

If  nations  were  like  the  sun,  never  vacillating— a  fixed  fact— 
we  might  hope  for  the  end  of  strife;  that  some  power  might  be 
supreme,  final,  universal.  All  history,  all  time  accords  the  fact 
that  they  are  vacillating,  so  as  one  ascends  above  the  other,  mu- 
tual jealousies  arise,  and  destruction  with  a  hoary  hand  strikes 
death  and  desolation.     Cannot  this  be  averted  ? 

Well,  then,  let  us  look  at  all  its  aspects.  We  may  say,  that  our 
institutions  are  peculiar,  not  consonant  with  the  forms  of  govern- 
ment in  the  olden  world :  that  we  vary ;  sympathies  and  institutions 
at  variance  with  our  friends.  We  must  be  exceedingly  jealous, 
or  they  will  conspire  to  our  ruin.  Now,  this  is  a  fallacy.  Nothing 
more  than  the  shadow  to  the  substance  ;"  a  subterfuge  to  beguile  a 
thought,  an  appeal  to  the  lowest  passions  of  man.  Do  no#t  these 
nations  exist  now  as  they  would  then  ?     Could  not  they  combine 


12 

to  subvert  our  institutions,  overcome  and  subjugate  our  country 
more  easily  being  armed,  than  without  arms  ?  Are  we  willing-  to 
admit  that  we  can  live  with  them  when  we  are  equal  in  emergency 
armed,  but  are  unable  to  do  so  unarmed?  Where  is  the  dif- 
ference ?  The  supposition  that  we  jeopardize  our  country,  our 
liberty,  is  a  fallacy  in  this  view.  Then  let  us  meet  the  facts 
as  they  arc,  and  stand  forth  as  the  great  galaxy  of  stars  that  o'cr- 
span  and  reflect  upon  the  vast  congregations  of  man  alike  for  that 
universal  boon,  freedom. 

National  or  international  law  would  not  have  a  place  for  in- 
trigue and  corruption.  Boundaries  as  definite  as  time  and  as  solid 
as  eternity,  would  mark  the  future  era.  Man  would  stand  forth 
unsubjected  to  the  wholesale  destruction  of  human  life.  He  would 
not  be  in  antagonism  to  the  Creator  and  creature,  but  a  part  of 
the  fundamental  law  of  right. 

There  is  none  so  prejudiced,  so  insane,  as  to  be  willing  to  even 
risk  his  convictions  of  duty  and  sense  of  right  upon  a  matter  of 
interest,  and  refuse  to  submit  to  arbitration.  While  these  plain 
and  ostensible  facts  come  home  with  an  appeal  so  calm  and  dis- 
passionate that  none  can  dispel  them,  why  may  we  not  be  free 
from  the  greatest  of  all  horrors  ?  What  so  easy,  so  plain,  so  well 
defined,  as  might  be  the  province  of  this  council  ?  Our  nation- 
ality, all  law,  internal  or  otherwise*  would  be  secure;  our  commerce, 
universal;  why,  it  would  be  an  expansion  of  the  heart,  an  opening 
of  the  soul ;  a  truth  deified  in  Gocl,  that  all  men  dwell  together  in 
unity. 

The  unmeasured  diversity  of  human  interest  ever  brings  man 
in  contact  with  his  fellow.  To  conciliate  and  harmonize  their  just 
and  equal  differences,  becomes  the  great  part  we  have  to  act  in 
life.  Country  and  condition,  the  essential  elements  of  greatness, 
broad  and  expansive,  buried  as  are  their  forms,  require  at  least  an 
exhibition  in  accordance  with  their  true  merit.  To  measure  these 
true  diversities  and  paramount  interests  for  individual  good,  we 
have  to  step  aside  from  the  localized  ideas  that  surround  any  na- 
tion as  a  people,  and  breathe  the  healthful  influence  of  common 
confidence  and  trust. 

We,  as  a  people,  have  ever  held  paramount  and  sacred  our  in- 
terest, at  whatever  cost.     We  have  fostered  and  chided  in  the 


13 

same  breath.  Interest  and  temporal  aggrandizement  has  been 
the  star  in  midheaven  upon  which  we,  as  a  people,  have  ever 
gazed  with  idolized  affection,  independent  of  the  consequences 
reflected  from  our  action  thereunto. 

We  must,  now,  become  cosmopolites,  laying  aside  party  or  fac- 
tion. In  other  words,  we  must  be  freemen.  To  be  so  is  not  an 
isolation;  for  we  cannot  be  free  ourselves,  without  according  it 
universally  to  our  fellow-men.  The  depth  of  soul  or  the  measure 
of  conscience  is  no  safeguard  to  eternity,  when  its  demoralizing 
influence,  with  a  trespassing  hand!,  wipes  the  escutcheon  of  divi- 
nity, to  obliterate  a  trust  made  sacred  by  Heaven.  Man  with  his 
fellow-man  talks  of  freedom,  and  banishes  the  idol  of  oppression, 
by  lifting  high  in  lofty  measure  the  strains  of  conscience,  and  calls 
God  to  be  the  rectifier,  the  distiller  of  events  that  must  supersede' 
all.  Why  is  this  ?  Because  his  creed  is  a  selfish  one,  guided  by 
arbitrary  rules  and  decrees  of  fate.  Because  desolation  breeds  by 
day  and  solaces  by  night  his  thought  for  the  condemnation  of  his 
fellow.  Because  the  Christian'.-  God  is  a  respecter  of  persons  and 
a  revenger  of  wrong,  according  to  the  localized  idea.  Because 
time  has  chronicled  fortune  and  misfortune  as  her  birthright. 
Because  antipodes  throw  their  shadows  o'er  the  pathway  of  hu- 
man events.  Because  life  and  death — two  measured  sentinels  on 
the  charts  of  time — hasten  on  the  events  that  are  coming. 

Is  God  a  jealous  God?  The  evil  propensities  of  the  human 
heart  that  generate  such  a  reflection,  weigh  as  an  incubus  upon 
our  birthright.  Is  God  no  respecter  of  persons  ?  Then  why  cry 
to  Him  aloud  to  be  avenged  of  your  enemies  ?  Why  not  strike 
at  the  fundamental  principle  of  all  wrung,  and  set  at  right  and 
bring  home  to  the  inner  man  these  exiled  affections  of  the  human 
heart.  Thus  we  may  know  that  we  have  one  Creator,  who  loves 
his  creatures;  one  duty  and  destiny  inspiring  honest  effort  for 
good.  No  exiles  to  punish  nor  sorrows  to  cast  away  :  bnt  feeling 
the  emotion  of  a  true  and  rightful  allegiance  to  an  Infinite  Cause, 
we  may  be  prepared  to  be  equal  partakers  of  the  bounty  universal. 

Peace  and  war  is  the  fratricidal  harem  where  is  established  that 
idea  that  overthrows  all  right,  and  where  death  maintains  its  su- 
premacy at  whatever  cost.  The  inalienable  right  of  men  has  but 
one  significance,  and  that  is  the  truth  it  bears  for  g>ood,  and  that 


14 

can  be  perpetuated  only  by  the  true  source  of  all  life  individually 
considered.  Individuals  make  the  drops  that  form  the  great  life- 
currents  of  the  mighty  ocean  of  suffering  and  wrong.  Individual 
actions  are  the  sources  from  which  spring  the  great  rivers  of  hu- 
manity that  flow  into  the  mystic  ocean  where  dread  and  dismay 
accords  a  fate  so  universal.  Temporary  influence  has  acted  and 
reacted  upon  the  great  throes  of  nature,  and  still  are  they  ever 
convulsed.  And  why  ?  Because  we  are  not  in  sympathy  with 
one  accord,  feeling  for  good.  Jealousies  and  immunities  depose 
each  other,  and  throw  us  into  the  great  whirlpool,  absorbing  and 
overriding  each  feeling  expressed  beyond  a  limited  degree  of  finite 
action. 

Why  are  we  as  a  people  at  war  to-day  ?  Why,  living  as  we  do, 
under  every  -professed  obligation  of  duty,  are  we  so  averse  to  each 
other  ?  Why  have  we  left  the  old  landmarks,  and  launched  our 
barques  upon  this  boisterous  ocean  of  discontent,  that  only  too' 
well  suffices  to  bury  our  all  ?  Was  it  the  oppressor's  hamd  ?  No  ! 
Was  it  conscience  ?  No  !  What  was  it  ?  '  'Twas  because  man 
had  but  one  eye  and  saw  nothing.  It  was  because  man  was  in- 
different to  the  great  interests  committed  to  his  care.  It  was  be- 
cause nature  was  throttled  and  impeded  in  her  onward  way.  It 
is  because  nature  is  not  tied  down.  Because  man  is  not  equal  to 
this  great  diversity  of  sentiment  and  feeling  prevalent  in  this  our 
land  and  country.  It  is  because  the  great  ocean  of  eternity  does 
not  form  its  base  in  a  consolidated  idea  at  Washington.  Nature 
is  averse  to  an  aristocracy.  The  little  stream  flows  as  sweetly 
and  as  musically  as  the  mighty  ocean  in  its  furious  roar.  One 
does  not  impede  the  other,  but  they  mingle  together  in  harmony. 
Nature's  vine-clad  hills  and  snow-capped  peaks  form  a  unity  in 
unlimited  diversity.  A  patrimony  of  Heaven  to  all  alike  equal. 
Our  people  have  failed  to  discriminate  and  maintain  an  equipoise 
in  the  great  balance  that  time  is  weighing  for  the  future,  and  the 
result  is  before  us.  The  burning  sands  of  the  southern  shore  and 
the  ice-clad  hills  of  our  northern  border  are  antipodes.  Neither 
fortune  nor  misfortune  is  the  possessor  or  dispossessor  of  these 
events.  But  we  are  mutual  partakers  of  each — and  is  it  not  our 
province  to  estimate  them  for  what  they  are  ?  Is  not  the  vege- 
table and  the  animal  kingdoms  as  different  as  a  black  man  and  a 


15 

white  man  in  their  two  extremes  ?  Can  any  government  or 
policy  erase  these  decrees  of  nature  ?  Neither  can  any  govern- 
ment efface  the  result?  of  this  day  or  the  stubborn  decrees  of  fate 
that  await  its  decay,  unless  they  add  the  broad  ad  infinitum  that 
underlies  the  basis  upon  which  this  fabric  of  nature  resl 

The  innate  principle  of  man  is  consistent,  though  to  a 
extent  in  an  imperceptible  decree.  For  you  will  find  that  he 
adapts  himself  to  extremes  of  whatever  kind.  He  does  no!  clothe 
himself  in  the  sunny  shade  as  in  the  boisterous  north.  lie  adapts 
himself  to  the  stupendous  condition  that  brings  all  within  his 
circle  of  extent.  But  our  government  has  legislated  with  but  one 
idea  independent  of  conditions  localized.  It  has  gone  to  extremes) 
not  measuring  in  its  capacitative  form  that  spontaneity  of  cha- 
racter and  culture  that  is  ever  inevitable. 

We  speak  of  "  union,"  of  unity.  There  is  unity  in  nothing  only 
as  it  exists  in  diversity.  The  unity  of  my  body  is  in  the  free 
exercise  of  each  limb  thereof.  Not  that  one  part  is  the  other,  but 
each  different  in  its  use  and  effect — all  oue  combined  whole — a 
natural  diversity  with  a  distinct  unity.  So  with  any  government, 
I  care  not  what  may  be  its  behests.  Whenever  it  restrains  the 
natural,  the  free,  the  spontaneous  action  of  its  parts,  it  deadens 
the  impulse  of  the  whole.  For  example :  while  the  animal  and 
vegetable  world  in  the  north  differs  from  the  south,  experience 
ever  tells  you  it  would  be  fallacy  to  cultivate  and  propagate  their 
elements  with  success  out  of  a  given  latitude.  When  nature 
differs  in  her  variety  so  marked,  shall  we  suppose  that  in  that 
which  is  greater  than  the  animal  and  vegetable  world  there  is  in- 
sensibility to  these  universal  behests  of  nature  in  man  ?  The  forms 
of  thought  and  order  like  those  of  the  animal  world,  subserve  their 
time  in  accordance  with  their  capacity  tor  perpetuity  and  growth. 
And,  I  ask,  are  they  fit  subjects  to  order  and  ordain  for  that  to 
which  they  are  averse  by  the  natural  ties  of  growth  and  life  ?  So 
do  institutions  and  countries  differ.  And  so  i^  it  with  men,  all 
blending  together  in  the  universal  and  eternal. 

What  hope  have  we  outside  of  the  immutable,  from  which  man 
ever  cometh,  to  which  he  ever  tendeth  ?  What  hope  has  any 
people  outside  of  the  natural  elements  of  which  they  are  com- 
posed ?     According  to  the  influence  of  climate  and  condition,  is 


16 

the  unmeasured  variety.  Then  let  men  be  willing  to  let  others 
enjoy  what  they  have  of  the  same  right  divine.  It  is  the  failure 
of  this  thought  in  our  government,  that  has  lost  to  us  the  peace 
we  had.  It  is  the  narrow-minded  and  contracted  views  of  right 
that  have  been  measured  by  every  door  sill,  not  knowing  that  God 
in  humanity  dwelt  as  much  without  as  within  their  own  scanty 
habitation.  It  is  this  view  that  makes  two  contending  parties, 
brothers  by  nature,  call  upon  the  same  God  for  desolation  to  each. 
Where  is  the  soul  so  lost  to  a  human  view,  that  with  impious 
thought  c#uld  look  thus  to  its  God,  and  not  fail  to  recognize  in  its 
fellow-man' the  creature  of  His  hand?  When  will  reason,  when 
will  right  usurp  the  power  over  wrong,  and  enthrone  on  judg- 
ment's high  seat  the  equal  desert  of  each — who  blasphemes  the 
nature  he  bears,  when  in  holy  condolence  he  prays  and  grieves 
over  his  slaughtered  dead  ?  What  hell  so  low  is  there  to  bury 
an  inconsistency  so  foul  as  this  mockery  of  virtue,  truth  and  right. 
This  is  the  christian's  God;  the  nation's  fall  and  humanity's 
blight.  Rather  let  hell  usurp  the  throne,  than  such  prayers  meet 
their  recompense  and  reward. 

We  have  viewed  at  some  length  the  discrepancy  arising  from 
the  varied  conditions  of  men — their  solid  imperfections  in  govern- 
ment as  well  as  in  individuals.  And  in  scanning  their  results, 
our  object  has  been  to  awaken  some  thought  that  will  arise  above 
the  present  unhappy  condition  of  our  country.  In  doing  so,  we 
are  compelled  to  hold  out  the  differences  that  exist,  in  such  .a 
manner  as  to  be  able  to  appreciate  the  inextricable  difficulties  into 
which  we  have  been  forced  as  a  people. 

In  the  first  place,  no  army,  however  victorious,  ever  settled  the 
true  questions  of  difference  which  led  to  the  fatal  results  of  war. 
The  taking  the  life  of  one  man  or  of  millions ;  the  expenditure  of 
one  dollar  or  the  impoverishing  of  a  nation,  has  never  affected  the 
cause  of  difference,  nor  made  it  right  or  wrong.  It  is  justice  and 
judgment,  or  that  which  too  often  supersedes  both,  namely,  power, 
that  settles  these  differences.  If  the  latter,  it  is  that  which  should 
ever  add  shame  to  the  victor.  If  the  former,  it  is  that  which  ever 
existed,  ere  the  death  notes  were  heard  in  the  land ;  and  they 
come  as  the  return  of  spring  after  the  desolate  winter  of  war  has 
Said  its  unwelcome  hand  upon  the  innocent  and  confiding.     Why, 


17 

then,  cannot  man  look  in  the  face  the  plainest  of  all  facts,  the  re- 
sult of  such  a  demolition  of  nature  as  war  ? 

What  means  the  proffered  offering  of  a  foreign  power  of  media- 
tion? Were  it  accepted,  does  it  remove  the  mistaken  causes 
which  have  led  us  to  desolation  and  death  ?  Are  not  the  same 
questions  now  to  be  settled  that  existed  before  ?  Does  not  that 
very  act,  or  its  proposition,  say,  in  tones  of  clearest  light,  that 
passion  and  frenzy  ruled  the  day  ?  Does  it  not  say,  or  appeal  in 
significant  terms  to  that  which  is  mightier  than  nature,  reason 
and  judgment,  that  we  may  have  peace  ?  And  I  ask  every  recog- 
nized conception  of  man,  whether  or  not  we  are  not  like  two 
mighty  animals  goring  each  other  to  death  ?  Can  justice  appor- 
tion to  each  any  thing  more?  And  the  proposition  for  interfe- 
rence amounts  to  a  cessation  of  strife  till  their  blood  may  cool ; 
that  the  consequences  of  an  effect  so  monstrous  and  hideous  may 
be 'seen  in  its  true  light !  This  is  the  highest  and  most  elevated 
plain  upon  which  our  country  stands  to-day,  and  its  natural  sur- 
roundings are  evident  to  all  men  of  common  sense,  who  allow 
justice  and  peace  to  ascend  above  passion  and  prejudice. 

But  that  we  may  have  all  that  can  be  possibly  claimed  for  those 
who  advocate  the  existing  conditions  of  national  defence  and 
glory,  so  termed,  we  would  say  let  the  existing  government  that 
overthrows  or  displaces  its  opponents,  propose  to  all  to  disarm 
and  return  to  reason,  to  adjust  upon  nature's  broad  platform,  the 
differences  that  will  still  exist.  I  stop  not  to  dilate  upon  the 
moral  grandeur  of  such  a  spectacle.  I  simply  appeal  to  the  ex- 
isting good  sense  and  sound  principles  of  our  people,  ere  another 
departure  overthrow  us  forever.  But  we  do  not  wish  to  confine 
ourselves  to  our  own  condition  as  a  special  application  or  object  j 
for  were  we  to  do  so,  it  would  be  entitled  to  a  twofold  bearing, 
from  the  fact  that  one  party  requires  simply  to  be  let  alone,  and 
the  other,  the  aggressor,  at  least  so  far  as  the  finale  of  life  and 
death  is  concerned,  is  intent  on  conquest  and  power — but  we  will 
take  any  two  contending  parties,  separate  and  distinct  powers,  not 
questioning  their  differences  or  difficulties,  allowing  it  to  be  suffi- 
cient that  they  exist.  One  subdues  the  other.  Does  it  lead  ad 
vertum  to  the  result,  that  the  power  failing  to  succeed  is  wrong  ? 
Does  it  affect  the  principle  of  justice  recognized  among  men? 
3 


18 

Does  it  confirm  or  destroy  the  principle  of  right?  That  either 
party  would  be  ashamed  to  own.  Then,  how  fallacious,  how 
foreign  to  the  true  instincts  of  mankind,  to  your  own  country,  is 
the  use  of  force  ? 

Is  there  any  basis  of  observation  that  would  allow  a  great  na- 
tion, because  it  has  the  physical  ability,  to  crush  a  lesser  one  ? 
Does  that  establish  right  and  ignore  wrong  ?  Not  at  all.  'Tis  a 
suicidal  policy,  averse  to  the  dictates  of  the  conscience,  and  a 
dead  letter  in  the  alphabet  of  being.  Is  it  that  nations  have 
more  confidence  in  might  than  they  have  in  right? — who  profess 
to  be  so  tenacious  of  their  honor,  and  still  allow  the  lie  to  be  sanc- 
tioned with  the  blood  of  their  fathers,  and  deified  on  the  tombs  of 
their  sons  !  And  can  they  still  cherish  a  love  for  war  ? — or  would 
they  not  rather  seek  those  natural  defences  born  on  high  to  rule 
upon  earth,  that  good  will  may  be  cherished  among  men  ? 

The  existing  condition  of  armed  protection  all  see  is  an  admis- 
sion of  national  falsity  in  practice,  and  should  be  abandoned. 
Whenever  disturbances  become  evident,  they  should  be  placed  in 
the  balance,  and  justice  awarded  where  duty  ordered.  It  is 
clearly  proven  that  no  amount  of  life  or  treasure  expended  affects 
the  relation  of  opposing  powers,  of  whatever  degree.  It  is,  then, 
to  the  pen,  to  the  head,  the  heart,  the  conscience  and  duty  we 
owe  to  creator  and  creature,  to  admit  the  results  that  have 
weighed,  like  a  mighty  incubus,  upon  the  great  family  of  man, 
and  say,  that  war  shall  be  no  more. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
pH8.5 


